


Stage Fright

by blondsak, seekrest



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: (do you really expect anything else at this point?), Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Parker, Blood and Injury, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, NYC loves Spider-man, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, defenestrating canon as per usual, more meta than crack, use and abuse of theater, we love thespians we promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26674678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blondsak/pseuds/blondsak, https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “A theater company decided to produce a musical based on Spider-Man,” Pepper explains. “It apparently has all sorts of special effects, including flying sequences. Oh, and Sting wrote the music.”“Sting, huh?” Tony says, rubbing at his chin. “Well, sounds interesting enough.” He turns to Peter, who continues to look annoyed. “Why the long face, kid? Not every day someone has a rock legend write songs about them.”Peter groans. “It’s just—it’s embarrassing, okay? And besides, Spider-Man isserious,he’s not supposed to be for entertainment. And they don’t even know anything about me—they’ll probably make me out to be, like, a dumb jock or something.”“With those twigs for legs? Doubtful,” Tony remarks, then at Peter’s scowl, adds, “Chin up, underoos. Try to look at it as an honor. Even Cap didn’t get an entire Broadway musical.”“I guess,” Peter grumbles.Or: the Spidey Fam decides to attend opening night of the newest Broadway musical,The Amazing Spider-Man!But unfortunately for Peter, a certain villain with a penchant for drama is planning a separate show of his own.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 112
Kudos: 243





	Stage Fright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaybee988](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaybee988/gifts).



> Happy birthday Kayleigh!! We hope you enjoy this story, which happens to be inspired by one of the very best Supernatural episodes of all time ;)

Some days, Tony wants to get deep into important projects. Things like suit upgrades, new tech for Peter, or product designs for SI. Other days, he just wants to build a really impressive house of cards. 

Today is the latter.

Tony is _just_ about to place the very final card on the top of his pyramid, already excited for sending the kid a photo of it because Peter had only ever made an eight-story and this was a very fine _ten_. Hell, he might as well send it to the family group chat, he thinks with a smirk. After all, denying oneself bragging rights is for people who disdain bragging far more than he, plus it will annoy Rhodey to receive such an inane text which is frankly just a bonus as far as Tony is—

“Hey Mr. Stark!” a chirpy voice booms out behind him.

Tony jumps at the sudden sound, his knees banging on the lab bench below. He watches in dismay as the entire pyramid—three hours worth of hard, physical, _back-breaking_ work—collapses, cards fluttering down all around him.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes in an effort to calm down—guess Pep making him join her for those meditation classes was worth _something_ in the end—Tony slowly swivels around in his chair to see Peter standing there in his suit, maskless and with a shit-eating grin on his face.

The tower's lab window behind him is cracked open, and Tony narrows his eyes. There’s no way the kid didn’t see what he was walking into. Which means this was no accident.

Eye twitching, Tony points a finger at Peter accusingly. “Saboteur!”

In response, Peter merely raises an eyebrow mischievously. “Excuse me? I have done nothing wrong, ever, in my life.”

“Are you quoting that meme? Because if that’s the case, I do _not_ know this, and I _definitely_ don’t love you,” Tony deadpans.

“Sure you don’t,” Peter says with a chuckle, walking over to the lab kitchenette and opening the mini-fridge. “Just popped by to grab a….Hey! Who drank all my juice boxes?”

Tony shrugs. “The answer to that is reserved for those who don’t deliberately destroy my life’s work.”

Peter rolls his eyes. “FRIDAY, who drank all my juice boxes?”

“That would be Boss, Peter. He drank three last night and two this morning.”

Tony scowls. “Et tu, FRIDAY?”

“Absolutely not, Boss. As my creator, any subversive activity on my part can only be what you intended, which I can hardly be blamed for.”

“See? FRIDAY has _also_ done nothing wrong, ever, in her life,” Peter says with a smile, then before Tony can respond adds, “Anyway, I’m going upstairs to get some juice and head out again.”

Tony hums. “You don’t want to stay maybe? Tinker a bit? I could use some company.”

“Nah,” Peter says over his shoulder. “Gotta keep patrolling—been some weird stuff going on involving some dude in a fishbowl helmet. But good luck with the card house rebuild!” He twists on his feet to walk backwards and pulls finger guns. “Sorry you being so _jumpy_ ruined it.”

Tony’s jaw drops. “Now listen here, you little shit, I spent three hours on–”

Before Peter gets there the lab doors slide open, revealing Pepper. “Darling, I know you’re working but—oh, hi Peter.”

“Hi Miss Potts.”

“Hey Pep,” Tony says, standing up and walking over to give her a kiss. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a lab visit?”

Pepper smiles. “Actually, it’s good Peter’s here too. I wanted to get your opinion on how many tickets I should reserve for opening night.”

“Opening night of what?” Tony asks just as Peter groans.

 _“The Amazing Spider-Man!”_ Pepper says, brow furrowing. “It’s premiering on Broadway next month. May called me about it weeks ago. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“Nobody said a word,” Tony says, looking pointedly at Peter, who has enough self-awareness to look at least slightly ashamed. “So what’s the deal?”

“A theater company decided to produce a musical based on Spider-Man,” Pepper explains. “It apparently has all sorts of special effects, including flying sequences.”

“Flying sequences?” Tony repeats, surprised. “That sounds a little dangerous for a play, doesn’t it?”

Pepper shrugs. “I suppose. But you can’t really make a Spider-Man musical if Spider-Man doesn’t–” She puts her wrists out and makes a _thwip-thwip_ motion. “Oh, and Sting wrote the music.”

“Sting, huh?” Tony says, rubbing at his chin. “Well, sounds interesting enough.” He turns to Peter, who continues to look annoyed. “Why the long face, kid? Not everyday someone has a rock legend write songs about them.”

Peter groans. “It’s just—it’s embarrassing, okay? And besides, Spider-Man is _serious_ , he’s not supposed to be for entertainment. _And_ they don’t even know anything about me—they’ll probably make me out to be, like, a dumb jock or something.”

“With those twigs for legs? Doubtful,” Tony remarks, then at Peter’s scowl, adds, “Chin up, underoos. Try to look at it as, I don’t know, an honor. Even Cap didn’t get an entire Broadway musical.”

“I guess,” Peter grumbles. “But really, you guys don’t have to go see–”

“Let’s reserve the middle section, third row, six seats,” Tony says to Pepper, smirking when Peter starts to protest. “You, me, May, Peter, Ned and—hey kid, what’s the name of that girl you have a huge crush on? Oh that’s right—MJ.”

“She’s just a friend, Mr. Stark,” Peter says, though the blush that stains his cheeks gives him away. “But seriously, nobody has to–”

“Six tickets,” Tony repeats to Pepper, Peter groaning again.

“Don’t worry, Peter, I’m sure it’ll be fun,” Pepper assures him, then gives Tony another kiss. “Lasagna will be ready in thirty, by the way.” She turns back to Peter. “You’re welcome to stay and eat dinner with us, sweetheart.”

Peter smiles. “Sure Miss Potts, I’d love to.”

With a smile, Pepper disappears back out the way she came.

“Oh sure, turn down my offer of lab time but decide to stay when food is offered,” Tony says irritably after she’s gone. “I see how it is.”

Peter just shrugs. “As long as it's Miss Potts who’s cooking.”

“That’s it, I’m talking to May. We’re legally changing your name to Little Shit Parker.”

* * *

A few weeks later, Tony is working on yet another important project - grilled cheese, buttered to perfection, humming as he flips the spatula in his hand - when FRIDAY’s voice rings out, indicating that he has an incoming call from May Parker.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, May? Is your little gremlin still on his way?”

May’s laughter carries overhead, Tony smiling to himself as he executes the perfect sandwich flip when she says, “He is, though he might be a little late.”

“Teenagers,” Tony mutters, only for May to laugh again as he keeps his attention on the sandwich in front of him.

The key to any great sandwich, much less one of the grilled cheese variety, was attention to detail. Butter on one side and mayo on the other, an assortment of cheeses that Peter could barely pronounce but never complained about eating - they didn’t matter if the sandwich itself was burnt to a crisp. 

Peter might get a rise out of making a mess of things but Tony could at least _try_ and focus on the task at hand. 

“Teenagers indeed, though he did manage to surprise me this time. He called _me_ before the school could, about ditching today,” May says with an exasperated sigh, Tony grinning as he adjusts the heat on the stovetop. 

“Honest and kind, even in his truancy. You raised a good one, May,” Tony says, squinting as he debates when to make another flip of the sandwich.

“Trying to, at least, but I’m a little worried,” May says, her tone still light and airy even if Tony knows her well enough by now to know she’s being serious. “He keeps getting into it with this weird magician guy. Mystery, something.”

“Kid’s always picking up the weird ones huh? What kind of magician?”

May sighs again, Tony imagining the look on her face - one that he’s seen too many times before by now, with her furrowed eyebrows and her lips twisting together. 

“I don’t even know if it _is_ a magician. It’s just, to be quite honest, weird as fuck.”

“ _May_ ,” Tony says with a grin, hearing the soft laugh ring out through the overhead once more, “you kiss your nephew with that mouth?”

“I mean it, Tony. I’m only calling because I know for a fact that he’s not going to want to bring it up to you. I don’t think he would’ve told _me_ if this wasn’t his third absence this week,” May says, sounding exhausted enough now that Tony feels only a little bit bad about teasing her. 

“I’ll see what I can do, May,” he replies, only to hear a crash in the distance - turning to see Peter stumble in from the balcony. Tony smirks before saying, “Speak of the devil, your little rascal is here now.”

“Hi sweetheart.”

“Hey May,” Peter says, ripping off his mask only for Tony to wince at the shiner he sees splattered across his face - an ugly shade of purple and green offset by the smile on Peter’s face as he says, “I’m here. You two can stop gossiping about me now.”

“Not everything is about _you_ , you little shit,” Tony says, only for Peter to roll his eyes.

“You do know I have super hearing right?” Peter counters, Tony frowning as May says, “I’ll let you two go. Pete, eat a vegetable tonight. _Please_. I’ll see you after my shift.” 

“Yep, totally will,” he says, bouncing his way to the kitchen and opening up the freezer - making a face at Tony who can only look on in disbelief and mild disgust as he grabs _six_ Eggos from a box, putting two in one toaster before pulling out the second, larger one Tony used for family breakfasts from a cupboard and popping the rest inside that.

“I mean it, kiddo. A vegetable. Just one, for me.”

“I’ll make sure of it, May,” Tony says, the smell of burning throwing his attention back to the stove as he grimaces - his perfect grilled cheese now a perfect mess.

“Bye, you two. Love you, Pete,” May says. 

“Love you,” Peter yells out, Tony frowning at him as FRIDAY ends the call. 

“You do know you don’t have to scream?”

“Yep,” Peter says, popping the ‘p’ as he grins, “But I also know it annoys _you_ so—“

“This is punishment, retribution for my past sins,” Tony grumbles, turning the stove top and sighing as he looks at the grilled cheese in front of him. Perfectly toasted on one end, a charred, blackened mess on the other. “And now you’ve made me ruin a perfectly good sandwich.”

“Sounds like a _you_ problem,” Peter says with a shrug, Tony scoffing as Peter piles his Eggos onto a plate before pausing in front of the counter - grabbing a lone banana as he heads off to the couch.

“Hey, whoa there, Eleven, get back here,” Tony calls, Peter stopping mid-step. “What’s this about a magician?”

Peter rolls his eyes, tucking the banana under his arm so he better hold his massive stack of waffles as he says, “He’s not a magician. I don’t think so, at least. You remember that fishbowl guy I mentioned last month?”

“That does ring a bell,” Tony replies drolly, throwing the sandwich in the trash only to wrinkle his nose in disgust as Peter shoves an Eggo waffle in his mouth.

“Calls himself _Mysterio_ ,” Peter says, his voice muffled. “He pretended to blow up a bodega.”

Tony freezes, blinking a few times before staring at Peter in disbelief. “He _what_?”

“Pretended to blow up a bodega,” Peter repeats, as if those words make any kind of sense in the world. “I don’t know how he’s doing it. It’s like he’s there one minute and then he’s gone the next. It’s getting a little annoying.”

He blessedly chews and swallows down his food, only to reach for another waffle when Tony says, “And you didn’t think to mention this before?”

Peter looks at him as if the thought had literally never occurred to him - something that Tony doesn’t doubt for a second - as Tony continues, “Kid, I know you’re big on solving problems for ‘the little guy’ but I’m not just here for tech upgrades. If you need—”

“Trust me, Mr. Stark. This guy is _not_ worth the Avengers’ time,” Peter says, shoving the waffle in his hand into his mouth.

“I’m not talking about the team, I’m talking about me, underoos. You know I get bored around here when Pepper’s gone,” he says, keeping his tone light as he moves to put the pan into the sink. “I could use a little excitement.”

Tony’s hoping that Peter doesn't blatantly see through his reverse psychology, though with a teenager - much less a superpowered one - it was anyone’s guess how it would go. Of all the things Tony had ever expected or planned for in his life, learning how to co-parent a teenager with a penchant for getting himself into the kind of trouble that got buildings dropped on him hadn’t been one of them. 

If May brought it up to him, Tony knows she has to be worried - especially when everything from Peter’s demeanor indicating that he clearly had no intention of bringing it up in the first place.

Peter, for his part, seems to consider it as he chews - only to swallow down the food in his mouth once more as he says, “Nah, I’m fine. If it gets to be too much, I’ll let you know.”

 _I sincerely doubt that_ , Tony thinks but doesn’t say, going to try another tactic only for Peter to say, “Speaking of, you can cancel the tickets to the Spider-Man show.”

“Cancel— why would I cancel those?” Tony asks, Peter looking more uncomfortable about the upcoming Broadway production of his superhero antics than the actual alleged domestic terrorist as he shifts his weight back and forth.

“I think I’m gonna skip it. It’s just really _weird_ , Mr. Stark. Plus, MJ said the storyline that leaked is like, super reductive and sexist. Spider-Man has like three different love interests in the same play and one of them _dies_ before the end of the first act.”

Tony can’t help the smirk on his face, folding his arms together as he says, “Oh, so you and MJ have talked about it huh?”

Peter’s cheeks instantly turn bright red, Tony relishing in the immediate change in his demeanor as Peter stammers, “I mean we all did, in school. Even Flash thinks it’s gonna be stupid.”

“Didn’t know you two were so chummy,” he says, furrowing his eyebrows as Peter shrugs.

“I think he likes Spider-Man more than I do and if _he_ doesn’t want to go—“

“Don’t refer to yourself in the third-person, it’s weird,” Tony says, Peter rolling his eyes as Tony continues, “Plus you’ll forgive me if I don’t put a lot of stock into the opinions of teenagers when it comes to fine art.”

Peter laughs at that. “You really think it’s gonna be that good?”

Tony shrugs, unfolding his arms. “It’s gonna be about you, kid.” Peter beams, Tony smiling at him as he says, “What’s not to like?”

* * *

The night of the play, everyone agrees to meet outside the theater. 

“That’s a very spiffy fedora you’re sporting, Ned,” Tony tells the teenager when he, MJ and May all arrive together, having taken the subway from Queens.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” Ned says, clearly chuffed by the compliment. “Are you excited to see the show?”

“I don’t know if I’d say excited, so much as curious,” Tony says, then with a smile, “I’m more excited to watch Peter’s reactions to it, if I’m honest.”

“Me too,” MJ agrees, having overheard. “I should have brought my notebook.”

“She likes to sketch people in crisis,” Ned explains, Tony raising an eyebrow as he looks between the two teenagers.

“Remind me to double-check you never carry a drawing pencil in my presence, Frieda,” Tony says to MJ, earning a small smirk. He can see why Peter likes her—similar to his aunt, she doesn’t hand out her approval easily.

“Well, shall we?” Pepper asks the group, motioning to the theater doors.

“Wait, what about Peter?” Tony asks.

“Best to leave his ticket at will-call," May says with a knowing smirk, checking her watch.

Together the group heads inside, and soon enough are led to their seats by an usher. It’s a full house, but as they walk down the aisle Tony notices a seat in the front row with a hand-written note taped to it that reads RESERVED FOR SPIDER-MAN. He can’t help but chuckle at the thought of how much Peter would despise being the center of attention should he get waylaid in the side alley by a theater worker on a smoke break before he manages to change out of his suit.

They take their seats, the usher handing each of them their playbills before taking off back up the aisle. As Tony sits down an insert from his program escapes from between its pages, Tony plucking it up from off the floor and glancing over it.

 _“Surprise Villain in Act Two to be played tonight by Quentin Beck, Director,”_ he reads aloud, then nudging Pepper’s shoulder to his left, holds it out for her to read as well. “Does this seem a little odd to you?”

Pepper frowns, then shrugs. “Well, all the characters do need understudies, I suppose.”

“But the director, of all people? And what do they mean by _Surprise Villain_ ?” Tony flips through the playbill to the cast list. “There’s not even a _Surprise Villain_ character listed here.”

Pepper just shrugs again, already distracted by the cast bios. “I don’t know, Tony. It’s a theater show—they all like to try new things and see what works, don’t they?”

“I guess,” Tony replies after a moment, but still it doesn’t sit right with him. “You’d just think a Broadway show would have no problem finding actors for, y’know, the _acting_ part of it all.”

 _“A Boy Falls From the Sky,”_ May says to Tony’s right then, also reading from her program. “Not so sure I like the sound of that song title.”

“Me neither,” Tony mutters, tapping his foot in an effort to relieve some of the anxious energy that’s building in him. He glances back behind them toward the lobby doors. “Shouldn’t Pete be here by now?”

“He really does just pop in to see you whenever he feels like it, doesn’t he?” May says to him, laughing. “He must, because if you two actually planned things together you’d know this isn’t weird for him. If he arrives before intermission I’ll be impressed.”

Just then the lights dim in the theater, the crowd starting to clap in anticipation for the show as the curtains open, revealing a set clearly meant to imitate a typical Manhattan street. As the orchestra begins to play the opening number, Tony looks around once more for the kid before settling back in his seat—hoping the weird churning in his gut abates soon.

* * *

By intermission, the feeling has not gone away - though Tony chalks it up to an entirely different reason.

“That was…” Pepper begins, Tony biting back a smile as he watches the woman he adores try to give some kind of compliment to the spectacle they just witnessed.

“Interesting,” May supplies, Pepper shooting her a grateful look as Tony turns his head towards her. “A lot of… colorful exposition.” 

“I wouldn’t exactly call it colorful,” Ned says with a snort, Tony really wanting to laugh now as MJ’s eyes roll, Ned continuing, “Isn’t this supposed to be set in New York? Why is everyone so _white_?” 

“Do we really expect better from a play that not only killed the first love interest and slut-shamed the second but now the third is,” MJ grabs Ned's playbill, “literally going to be in danger for the rest of the play? I mean look at this, the next song is called _Save Me Spider-Man._ ”

Tony watches in amusement as MJ hands the playbill back to Ned as she says, “If she’s dating a superhero, you’d think she’d be a lot more independent.”

“You’d be right,” Pepper answers warmly, MJ smiling at her as Tony - unable to hold himself back anymore - says, “It’s the _love interests_ that bother you?”

MJ sends him a look that’s eerily reminiscent of Pepper, Tony barely holding back another laugh as she says, “It’s cliche and reductive.” 

He holds a hand up, catching May’s smirk out of the corner of his eye as he says, “I’m on your side. First half was a bit of an info dump, even if I’m still a little confused as to how Spider-Man supposedly got his powers.”

“They never really said,” Ned offers, “which is good I guess. There’s some weird theories out there anyway.”

MJ and Ned begin to chatter among themselves about said theories when May leans in closer to Tony, whispering into his ear, “Really, Tony? You know he’d be mortified if you brought his _you-know-what_ up in front of her.”

“But he’s _not_ here is he?” Tony counters, only to frown as he glances around the theater. “Speaking of, shouldn’t the guest of honor have arrived?”

It seems Tony has spoken too soon, hearing a cheer off to the left side when he sees him - Peter still in the Spider-Man suit, doing an awkward wave to the crowd as an overeager usher leads him to the seat in the front row.

“I thought–“ Pepper whispers, only for Tony to nod towards the entrance he came in from. 

“I knew it. Someone must’ve caught him before he could change. I keep telling him he should wear the half-a-million dollar nano suit I made for him.”

“Maybe stop mentioning that it’s worth half-a-million and he will,” May deadpans, Tony smirking at her before watching as Peter makes his way to his seat - people in the crowd cheering and reaching their hands out to shake his.

A surge of pride rushes through Tony upon seeing it, even as there's a tinge of worry at seeing so many people grabbing at Peter when he can't exactly swing away. For all that Tony knows that the public seems to adore Spider-Man, he of all people is all too aware of how quickly their allegiance could change. But he pushes the thought away for now, reminding himself that nobody's on trial here—it's a harmless play. Pete's just fine. 

He takes his phone out of his pocket as May nudges at him, Tony smiling at the way Peter tries to not so subtly glance over in their direction before quickly turning towards the stage - head ducked down as he no doubt took out his phone.

Sure enough, Tony’s phone buzzes just as it’s out of his pocket, leaning the screen towards May as it comes in.

 **Underoos, 8:37PM:** got caught by a worker

 **Underoos, 8:37PM:** at least the suit is clean?

May stifles back a laugh, Tony chuckling as his thumbs fly across the screen as he replies, _low bar you’re setting there, kid._

Peter sends back a string of emojis that Tony can’t quite decipher, only for another message to come in.

 **Underoos, 8:38PM** : show any good?

He shares a look with May before replying, _hard to judge a show by the first act._

The two of them laugh, Ned, MJ and Pepper all turning to look at them when Peter’s reply comes in.

 **Underoos, 8:38PM** : that bad huh?

Tony sends a few of emojis of his own, a thumbs up, thumbs down and a few random ones for good measure when the lights begin to dim once more. Tony lowers the brightness on his screen, ready to text once more only for the text bubbles that popped up to disappear - turning his attention back to the stage as the music starts to swell.

“Ready for the rest of this?” May whispers to him, Tony slipping his phone back in his pocket. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” 

* * *

The musical’s plot continues to be vaguely interesting but certainly not engrossing by any means, and Tony finds himself staring down at his hands and picking his fingernails by the act’s second song. 

It’s right when the fifth song—sung by the Spidey love interest from up on a high balcony, while “Spider-Man” listens in in secret—is just getting going that he feels a vibration in his pocket. He pulls out his phone to see another text from Peter. Tony chuckles silently, expecting it to be some humorous criticism about the show—having no doubt Peter is feeling snarky as hell about the whole thing. But he frowns when he sees what it actually says.

 **Underoos, 9:12 PM:** somethings off

Tony glances up at the back of the kid’s head, before quickly typing back, _regular off or spidey sense off?_

 **Underoos, 9:14 PM:** SS

Tony’s frown deepens. _time to go?_

 **Underoos, 9:15 PM:** gotta find out what it is first

 **Underoos, 9:15 PM:** ppl could get hurt

If Tony’s frown got any deeper, he’d look like a sad clown. He wishes now he’d brought his suitwatch, but his therapist had been on him lately to not let his paranoia get in the way of everyday outings. He certainly hadn’t thought he’d have need of the suit at a damn play, of all places. 

One thing was certain: he was never leaving home again without it.

“Does Peter seem tense to you?” May whispers to him, pointing ahead two rows at where the kid is sitting. In response Tony silently shows her the text conversation. He’s not in the least surprised she caught on so fast that something was wrong. Nobody knows Peter better than his aunt.

“Oh dear,” May whispers, her own frown mirroring his. “Perhaps we should–”

Just then there’s a big gasp from the crowd, May and Tony whipping their heads up to see that the balcony on which the love interest was singing from has collapsed in on itself, leaving the actress flailing in mid-air—dangling from the cable that’s attached to the flying vest underneath her costume. The Spidey actor tries his best to pull her to safety but can’t quite reach her, and Tony can see him frantically motioning to someone in the rafters to adjust his pulley system for more leverage.

Despite the actress’s very real screams and “Spider-Man’s” clear distress, the audience seems to assume it’s part of the show—nobody reacting as though there’s an emergency.

Nobody except Peter, that is, who jumps up from his seat, freezing except for his head swiveling every which way. Tony can tell by his body language that he’s searching for the source of the threat.

Just then there’s a sharp snapping sound, Tony looking back up at the where the love interest is dangling to see that her cable is about to break. No sooner has he had the thought than that’s exactly what happens—the actress plummeting to the stage floor.

But luckily for her Peter’s ready. He swings himself up to one of the set’s NYC building facades before sending a web out to catch the actress—stopping her fall feet from the ground before gently lowering her the rest of the way.

The crowd starts to cheer, still under the impression that the abrupt change of events was planned. But the group of five in the third row know very well it wasn’t—MJ, Ned, and Pepper now all looking between Tony, May and the stage in concern.

Tony starts to lift his phone to his ear to tell FRIDAY to send a suit over when a new character—wearing a giant fishbowl and a large cape—appears from seemingly out of thin air on stage right, directly below the Spidey actor.

Tony’s jaw drops. Because it’s no random character. It’s the very _real_ Mysterio, in full costume and carrying a gun—Tony on the very edge of his seat.

“So great of you to finally join us, _Spider-Man,”_ the villain taunts Peter before lifting an arm and yanking hard on the Spidey actor’s foot—the man falling onto the floor with an audible _oof._ Mysterio wastes no time lifting the man up by the back of his costume and pulling him against his chest in a headlock, holding the gun up to the actor’s temple. “Tell me, should I shoot him or you first?”

“Let him go, Mysterio!” Peter yells, smoothly leaping down onto the stage floor across from the villain.

“With pleasure,” Mysterio responds, throwing the guy to the ground and aiming his gun at Peter just as the kid himself lifts an arm out, webshooter poised.

But the villain’s trigger finger is faster, and before Peter can disarm him there’s a loud _BANG_.

Tony and the others can only watch on in horror as Peter collapses to the stage floor, a weak groan of pain escaping from him as he clutches at his chest.

Tony’s own chest feels like it’s been pierced straight through as he goes to stand, May’s grip on his arm so tight that it feels like the circulation is being cut off.

There’s immediately whispers among the crowd, Tony shooting May a glance only to see the terrified expression on her face.

Before he can move, Mysterio begins to speak, laughing as if he hadn’t just fired a gun and shot Peter point blank in the chest.

“Who’s the hero now, New York? Is _this_ the man you all call amazing?” he calls out, a horrifying wheeze coming from Peter.

The sound jolts Tony out of his shock just as it shakes the cast members on stage, the Spidey actor trying to move toward Peter only for Mysterio to point the gun at him.

“Ah ah ah, you’ll mess up all the fun. After all, what’s a final act without a little _drama_?”

Tony knows that for all the strength that Peter has, for all the abilities and super healing, the chances of him surviving a point blank bullet wound to the chest without immediate medical assistance were slim to none. Especially if no one was able to stop the bleeding before it was too late.

The terrified expressions of the cast serve to incite the audience that this isn’t part of the show, hearing a horrified scream come from somewhere in the back as people start to chatter.

“WHAT THE HELL!?”

“Did he really shoot Spidey?”

“Come on, Spider-Man!”

Tony takes advantage of the crowd’s discontent to stand, shooting a glance towards May, Ned and MJ - his two friends looking equal parts terrified and concerned before he makes his way out of the aisle, Pepper sending him a meaningful look.

He’s known and loved her long enough to recognize the determination in her gaze, thanking every star in the galaxy that he’s with a partner that’s capable of keeping a cool head in times of trouble. He catches a glimpse of her discreetly taking out her own phone, no doubt to call a medevac as Tony makes his way out into the aisle and slowly walks alongside the edge.

The crowd by now has grown deafening, shouts and yells towards the so-called Mysterio who looks increasingly frustrated. 

“You fight for him? This so-called _hero_? He’s a sham! A mistake! You wouldn’t—“

Mysterio’s cut off by someone throwing a shoe at him, going to point the gun at whoever had done so only for a cast member to tackle him from behind.

Tony takes advantage of the chaos as Mysterio and the actor fall to the ground, members of the audience yelling even louder with some even trying to jump over their seats—seemingly intent on making Mysterio pay for hurting their hero.

A distant part of Tony recognizes that someone needs to take this idiot into custody but all he can focus on is the image of Peter on the ground, still in the Spider-Man suit - the Spidey actor now pressing down on the bullet wound. 

“Take care of him, Iron Man!” he hears someone call from the crowd, everything else falling away as he vaults himself onto the stage and rushes to Peter’s side. 

By now some of the cast—including the love interest Peter saved—are already there, one of them applying pressure to his chest wound while the love interest goes to pull off the kid’s mask.

“Don’t touch that!” Tony barks, just as he slides down on his knees, leaning right over Peter so he’s in his line of sight. “Kid, can you hear me? You’re gonna be alright.”

In response Peter makes a choking sound, a spatter of blood appearing on the mask over his mouth when he lets out a small cough, his lenses looking every which way in panic.

The love interest goes to tug off the mask again, Tony grabbing at her wrist. “I said _don’t touch that.”_

“He needs room to breathe,” the actress says curtly, then glancing up sharply at Tony, “He saved my life, I’m not gonna let him die now. Just let us help him, please.”

“We won’t say anything to anyone,” a different actor implores, and another, “You can trust us, Iron Man,” as they form a small circle around their fallen hero, shielding the sight of him from the rest of the audience so nobody can see inside.

Peter coughs again, this one even more wet, and Tony glances down at him in fear before looking back up at the group, nodding. “Okay, okay. Kid, we’re gonna take your mask off now.”

Despite being in what has to be immense pain Peter manages to give a nod of assent, the love interest carefully removing his mask only to let out a little gasp.

“He’s so young,” she whispers just as Tony tries to give Peter a reassuring smile, running a hand through his hair comfortingly.

“It’s gonna be okay, underoos. Just hang in there for us.”

Just then there’s a commotion from right outside the small circle of cast members, Tony hearing May cry out, “Let me through, dammit!”

“That’s his aunt—let her in!” he demands, and the small group parts just enough for May to enter, falling to her knees next to Tony as she frames Peter’s face with her hands, running her thumbs over his cheeks.

“Sweetheart, you’re gonna be okay,” she says to him. In reply, Peter—blood trickling from his mouth with every stilted gasp—lifts a hand up toward her which she quickly takes into her own, kissing his fingertips and pressing his own palm to her cheek. “Just stay awake, okay baby?”

Peter opens his mouth wide as if trying to say something only for a panicked expression to come over his features, chest hitching as he tries and fails to take a breath.

“No, no no,” Tony begs, Peter’s tear-filled eyes glancing between him and May in desperation before they start to glaze over, blinking sluggishly as the terrified look on his face recedes along with consciousness. “Stay awake, kid!”

But it’s no use, Tony catching something that looks far too much like a goodbye in the kid’s gaze before his eyes close completely, face going slack and body going limp, his chest no longer moving.

“No!” May cries out, leaning over Peter’s face until her lips press against his cheek, brokenly begging, “C’mon, baby, c’mon, don’t do this, don’t leave us–”

“Move over!” the love interest orders the actor pressing down on Peter’s bullet wound—clinically setting to work performing chest compressions as Tony, May and the rest look on, frozen in fear. 

It couldn’t have been more than a minute later—even if it felt like an eternity—that there was more commotion behind them. This time the small circle didn’t hesitate to part, four of Tony’s medevac team members from the tower medbay swarming them—one setting down a backboard parallel to Peter while another takes over the chest compressions. 

Tony gently tugs May away from her nephew just enough for the group of professionals to smoothly hoist him onto the board, only to lift it up—one quick-thinking actor putting Peter’s mask back over his head just enough to hide his hair and eyes. Two of the EMTs begin carrying Peter away while the others walk along, continuing various life saving measures.

Together May and Tony get to their feet, May quickly rushing after them—Tony hesitating just long enough to look at the group of cast members still standing there, looking somber.

“We won’t tell,” the love interest solemnly promises, the others nodding seriously in agreement, and Tony nearly says something about having them wait for his lawyers to get there so they can sign NDAs. But instead he finds himself nodding back before turning on his heels and racing toward the stage side door that the team and May had disappeared through moments earlier.

Just this once, he’ll choose to believe in good faith that New York City really does have their friendly neighborhood hero’s back.

* * *

“Did they make it home safe?” Pepper asks from her seat next to him in the medbay hallway, Tony hanging up the phone and nodding.

“Yeah, though neither of them were particularly happy about it,” Tony says with a sigh, “Happy says they fought him on it the entire way back but they’re now both safe and sound at home.”

Pepper smiles warmly, pulling him into a hug that Tony freely returns as she says, “It’s good that he has good friends. They’ll be able to see him tomorrow, if he’s feeling up to it.”

Tony hugs Pepper right before leaning out of it, kissing her gently and saying, “That’s the plan, at least according to MJ. Apparently, she gave Happy a detailed lecture on when and where he can pick them up from Midtown after school.”

Pepper grins at that, going to say something more when May pops her head out from the room - the two of them immediately tensing only to relax when she smiles.

“He’s waking up,” she whispers, Tony nodding before turning to Pepper.

“Go, I’ll be there in a minute,” she says, nodding towards the door.

Tony shoots her a grateful smile before kissing her once more, following after May into Peter’s quiet recovery room.

The past few hours had been tense, more touch and go than Tony was comfortable with. The residual panic and adrenaline of seeing Peter shot and falling to the ground ran in an endlessly looping slideshow in the back of his mind, paired with the terror of learning that he flatlined twice in surgery.

Yet all was well now, or was on its way to it - Peter blinking groggily at him as he steps into the room.

“Hey underoos,” Tony says quietly, moving to take the seat on the opposite of May, “how ya feeling?”

He watches as Peter tries to lick his lips, looking completely out of it as his eyes flutter.

“Hurts,” Peter answers honestly, Tony recognizing that he must still be high as a kite because of it as he says, “‘m sore.”

“I bet,” May whispers, sitting down and gently taking his hand - her thumb gently caressing over the space between the back of his hand and where the IVs that were steadily pumping in pain medications are. “No more excitement for the next few weeks, okay?”

Peter blinks a few times as if he didn’t register it, Tony beginning to wonder if he was still too loopy to understand when Peter says, “No m’re Spider-Man.”

Tony and May freeze - Tony leaning forward as he asks, “Come again?”

Peter smacks his lips together, eyebrows furrowing as if he was putting all his concentration to the task when he says, “Plays. No more Sp’der-Man plays.”

Tony can’t help but laugh at that just as May does, Peter sending the two of them a sleepy smile as Tony brings a hand to Peter’s arm - gently squeezing it as he says, “Alright, kid. No more Spider-Man plays. See if we can’t get you trademarked or something.”

May smiles at Tony, using her free hand to brush some of the hair across Peter’s forehead when Peter frowns - eyes glancing around the room as he says, “Is everyone ‘kay?”

“No one got hurt, Pete. Just you,” May says with the faintest hint of exasperation, Tony _feeling_ much less seeing the exhaustion in her expression.

Peter shakes his head only to wince, May gently brushing through his hair once more as she says, “And before you ask, Happy took Ned and MJ home.”

“They’ll come by tomorrow, after school,” Tony says before Peter can try and argue, looking as if he was half-confused and half-ready to slip back into dreamland again. “Your MJ certainly had something to say about that.”

May stifles back a laugh as Peter smiles sleepily for a beat, only to laugh when Peter seems to finally catch onto what Tony said as he replies, “ _My_ MJ?”

“Yep. Happy said she was a force to be reckoned with, and if I’m honest, she wasn’t the only Spidey love interest like that tonight. Mary Jane’s actress probably saved your life,” Tony remarks, Peter’s eyes going comically wide. “Seems in both real life and fiction you’re destined for a girlfriend who’s just as strong as you, underoos.”

He can tell Peter is definitely still out of it when the kid’s his brain seems to skirt right over the part about “Mary Jane,” smile turning serene as he responds, “M’chelle’s so b’dass, M’ster S’ark. ‘N pretty, but m’stly b’dass.”

May brings a hand up to her mouth to hide her laughter, Tony barely managing to swallow his own down as he replies, “Indeed she is a badass, Pete.”

“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” May whispers as Peter’s eyes flutter, Tony quietly moving to stand and exit out of the room.

May follows right after him, both of them glancing back to Peter, who now looks as if he’s in a deep sleep - the door quietly sliding behind them.

Tony lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he’s been holding as May’s shoulders sag, a long sigh escaping her as she says, “I don’t know if that’s gonna get any easier.”

“They’ll figure their respective crushes out, one way or another,” Tony replies, seeing Pepper stand up from her hallway seat out of the corner of his eye, smiling as he says, “Teenagers always do.”

“Not that, though you’re right,” May says, Tony bringing his attention to May and seeing the solemn expression on her face. “Seeing him tonight, that man just shooting him…” May trails off, her eyes shifting away from Tony only to harden as she looks back to him, “when he said no more Spider-Man, I hoped–“

“Me too,” Tony says with a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face. “But you know as well as I do that he’ll never give it up.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” May whispers as Pepper walks up to the two of them - a sinking feeling in his gut at the truth of her words.

Seeing Peter get shot tonight wasn’t so much of a wake up call as it was a long-foretold warning, one of Tony’s deepest, darkest fears coming to life right before his very eyes.

The truth that none of them wanted to admit, something Tony himself wrestled with, was the idea that Peter had signed his death warrant the first moment he first donned a suit - throwing himself into danger in a glorified onesie long before Tony had ever known him.

Tonight had been a close call - _too close_ \- but even if everything was okay for now, all Tony could think about was the chance that there would come a day when Peter wouldn’t be safe and alive in the recovery room, that he and May would find themselves standing not over a medbay bed, but a slab in a morgue instead. That they were destined to do this over and over again until one day, it would be the last. 

Tony banishes the thought, the images of the audience members and then cast coming to Peter’s defense--to save him--rushing back to his memory - a grim smile on his face.

“Well, if tonight proved anything, it’s that we’re not the only ones determined to make sure Spider-Man sticks around for a long time,” he says to May reassuringly, who looks at him before nodding in agreement, Tony mirroring her.

After all, what Peter did every day—putting himself in harm’s way for the city—would never get any less dangerous. But knowing that New York would fight for _him_ just as hard as he did for them? 

Tony thinks he can live with that, at least as long as Peter does too.

**Author's Note:**

> We love it when people scream at us in the comments. Come hang out with us on tumblr: [blondsak](https://blondsak.tumblr.com) and [seekrest](https://seek-rest.tumblr.com).


End file.
